NEW YORK– Donald Trump took the stage at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday evening to deliver the closing argument of his campaign with the election just nine days away, after several of his allies used crude and racist insults against Vice President Kamala Harris and other critics of the former president.

The Republican candidate began by asking the same questions he’s been asked at the start of every recent meeting: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” The audience responded with a resounding “No!”

“This election is a choice between whether we will have four more years of gross incompetence and failure, or whether we will enter the best years in the history of our country,” he said after being introduced by his wife, Melania Trump. whose rare surprise appearance comes after she has been largely absent from the campaign.

Several speakers earlier on Sunday crudely insulted Harris, who is vying to become the first woman and black woman to win the presidency. And a stand-up comedian made lewd and racist comments about Latinos, Jews and black people, all key constituencies in the election just nine days away.

“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of trash in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” said comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, whose joke was immediately criticized by Harris’ campaign while running with Trump is competing to win over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other swing states. Shortly after Hinchcliffe’s performance, music superstar Bad Bunny, a native of Puerto Rico, supported Harris.

Trump’s childhood friend David Rem, meanwhile, called Harris “the antichrist” and “the devil.” Businessman Grant Cardone told the crowd that Harris “and her pimp handlers will destroy our country.” And former Fox News host Tucker Carlson called Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, “a Samoan, Malaysian former prosecutor from California with a low IQ.”

Trump’s closing argument turns into spectacle

The event was a surreal spectacle, where what his campaign had advertised as the event where he would deliver his final message in the final days of the campaign became an illustration of what turns off his critics. The lineup included House Speaker Mike Johnson, TV psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw, former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and someone who painted a picture of Trump hugging the Empire State Building.

And that was all before the Republican presidential candidate took the stage more than two hours late.

Trump on Sunday added a new proposal to his list of tax cuts aimed at wooing older adults and workers, which already includes vows to end taxes on Social Security benefits, tips and overtime: a tax credit for caregivers.

This comes after Harris spoke about the ‘sandwich generation’ of adults caring for elderly parents while raising their children. Harris has proposed federal funding to cover the cost of home care for older Americans.

Trump went on to repeat familiar lines on foreign policy and immigration, calling for the death penalty for any migrant who kills a U.S. citizen and saying that the day he takes office, “the invasion of migrants into our country will end.”

The rally was an amplified version of the RNC

Many of the speakers appeared on stage at the Republican National Convention on Sunday. This time the same speakers shouted and rants even more at the Democrats.

Hogan, who returned to the venue where he performed as a professional wrestler years ago, appeared to reprise his character, emerging wearing a giant red, orange and yellow boa and violently waving a large American flag as he posed and danced. He spat on stage during his speech, flexed his muscles repeatedly and told the audience, “Trump is the only man who can fix this country today.”

While some Democrats and pundits have questioned Trump’s decision to hold what they dismiss as a vanity event in his hometown, the rally guarantees Trump what he craves most: the spotlight, wall-to-wall coverage and a national audience.

The final message his campaign says he will deliver on Sunday is that Harris “broke the country” and that Trump will “fix it.” Rallygoers waved signs with the words “Trump will fix it” hours in advance.

Some Democrats, who claim Trump is a “fascist,” have likened his event on Sunday to a pro-Nazi rally at the Garden in February 1939. Several speakers on Sunday criticized Hillary Clinton, the Democrat who was defeated by Trump eight years ago. defeated, torn because she recently said Trump would “reenact” the 1939 event.

“Hey guys, they’re scrambling now and trying to call us Nazis and fascists,” said Alina Habba, one of Trump’s lawyers, who draped a sparkly “MAGA” jacket over the lectern as she spoke. ‘And do you know what they say, boys? It’s very scary. They claim we are going after them and trying to put them in jail. Well, isn’t that rich?’

Hogan declared in his trademark raspy growl, “I don’t see any stinkin’ Nazis here.”

Trump has dismissed the four criminal charges against him as politically motivated. He has stepped up his charges in recent weeks against “enemies from within,” naming domestic political rivals and suggesting he would use the military to go after them. Harris, in turn, has called Trump a “fascist.”

The arena was packed for hours before Trump was scheduled to speak. Outside the arena, the sidewalks were packed with Trump supporters wearing red “Make America Great Again” hats. There was a heavy security presence. Streets were closed and access to Penn Station was restricted.

In the crowd was Philip D’Agostino, a longtime Trump supporter from Queens, the neighborhood where Trump grew up. The 64-year-old said it was fitting that Trump spoke at a venue that bills itself as “the most famous arena in the world.”

“It just goes to show you that he has a bigger following than any man who ever lived,” D’Agostino said.

A New Yorker returns home

New York hasn’t voted for a Republican as president in forty years. But that hasn’t stopped Trump from insisting he believes he can win.

Trump routinely uses his hometown as a foil for audiences in other states, painting a dark vision of the city that bears little resemblance to reality. He calls it a crime-ridden area overrun by violent immigrant gangs that have taken over Fifth and Madison Avenues and occupied Times Square.

Trump has a complicated history with the place where he built his business empire that made him a tabloid and reality TV star. Residents charged him last year with 34 counts of falsifying company records. He was found guilty in that case and also held liable in civil court for corporate fraud and sexual abuse.

The rally is part of a series of detours Trump has made from battleground states, including a recent rally in Coachella, California — best known for the famed music festival named after the city — and a May rally at the Jersey Shore . This summer he campaigned in the South Bronx.

To reach them, Trump has spent hours on popular podcasts. And his campaign has created viral moments, like his visit last weekend to a McDonald’s restaurant, where he made fries and served supporters through the drive-thru window. The video of the stop posted by his campaign has been viewed more than 40 million times on TikTok alone.

Harris has also traveled to non-battleground states for major events designed to spread a national message. She appeared in Houston on Friday with music superstar Beyoncé to speak about reproductive rights, and will deliver her own closing argument on Tuesday from the Ellipse in Washington, where Trump spoke ahead of the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

Besides the national spotlight and the allure of appearing on one of the world’s most famous stages, Republicans in the state say the rally will also help debase the candidates. New York is home to a handful of competitive congressional races that could determine which party controls the House of Representatives next year.

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WATCH: Bill Ritter and the Eyewitness News team with our 2024 voting guide.

For more information about what’s on the ballot in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, check out our Voter Guide.
For election updates, visit abc7ny.com/vote2024. (edited)

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